Sequentially positioned track sanding hopper outlets

ABSTRACT

This invention consists of a plastic sand tank mounted in the front of each wheel of a vehicle, the aforesaid sand tank having a vertically disposed valve therein that is activated by means of an electromagnet connected by one or more wires to a brake pedal switch as well as to a master off and on switch and to a source of electricity carried by the said vehicle.

United States Patent 1191 Lee et al. 1 1 Nov. 27, 1973 [5 SEQUENTIALLYPOSITIONED TRACK 3,034,816 5/1962 Thompson 291/23 SANDING HOPPER OUTLETS2,625,417 1/1953 Sundheim 291/3 2,099,283 11/1937 Stevenson 1 291/38 X 1Inventors: Robert R y both of 52 3,399,917 9/1968 McLean 291/311Tennyson St., Somerville, Mass. 02145 Primary Examiner-Robert G.Sheridan Assistant Examiner-Howard Beltran F l [22] led Nov 1971Attorney-Dav1d M. DI'lSCOll [21] Appl. No.: 198,375

[57] ABSTRACT [52] U.S. Cl 291/38, 291/23, 291/25 i in n i n on i ts f aplasti san tank mounted [51] Int. Cl... B60]; 39/10, B61 15/10, 1361b11/00 in the front of each wheel of a vehicle, the aforesaid [58] Fieldof Search 291/3, 23, 38, 25 n nk h ving a ver i lly i posed alve thereinthat is activated by means of an electromagnet con- [56] Referen s Citednected by one or more wires to a brake pedal switch n- STATES PATENTS aswell as to a master off and on switch and to a 3,606,420 9/1971l-lulstrom et al 291 /3 source of elecmclty by the Sam vehlcle'1,745,705 2/1930 Nordquist 291/38 X 1 7 Claims, 8 Drawing FiguresPAIENIEU um 21 ms SHEEI 1 [1F 4 INVEN-TOR ROBE/PT P LEE P0) LEEPMENTEDRHVPY 192s 3,774,945 sum 2 0F 4 INVENTORS ROBERT P LEE P0) LEEPATENTEDRMN ma 3.774.945

SHEET 3 [1F 4 mull" 43 mwmwW M @[LIHHIM 8 INVENTORS' ROBE/PT LEE P0) LEEPATENTEDuuv 2? 197a 3 774,,9 5 SHEET u 0F 4 n 50 n W ii 45 42 E- 4 6 Y1"48 i 5/ 4;: C C/ INVENTORS ROBERT P LEE PO) LEE SEQUENTIALLY POSITIONEDTRACK SANDING HOPPER OUTLETS This invention relates to automotivevehicles; more particularly, to safety devices for automotive vehicles;still more particularly, to a safety device in the form of a sandingappliance that will prevent the wheels of a vehicle from slipping whenthe vehicle is traveling over ice covered roads or the like.

It is well known to those experienced in the art of providing safetydevices for automotive vehicles, as well as to those versed in the studyof automobile acci dents and highway safety, that while vehicle tiresprovided with studs will generally speaking, keep a vehicle fromslipping on ice, that a number of states as well as at least one foreigncountry have passed laws preventing the use of studded tires. Studdedtires obviously reduce the life of a highway.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide asafety device for automotive vehicles traveling on ice covered highwaysand the like that can be used on vehicles traveling in any state orcountry without violating its laws.

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety device forautomotive vehicles traveling on ice covered highways and the like thatis activated by the driver of the vehicle whenever necessary.

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety device forautomotive vehicles traveling on ice covered highways and the like, thedevice employing sand to be dropped in front of the wheels of thevehicle by the operator of the vehicle activating an electromagneticmechanism, as will hereinafter be described, and the sand to beautomatically released by the action of the brake pedal.

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety device forautomotive vehicles traveling on ice covered highways and the like, thedevice embodying plastic tanks in which the sand is carried, the sandpreferably containing a certain herein described chemical that will keepit dry and functional.

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety device forautomotive vehicles traveling on ice covered highways and the like, thedevice being suitably for adaptation to any automotive vehicle, such asa passenger car, truck, or truck and trailer, or bus.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a safety device forautomotive vehicles traveling on ice covered highways and thelike, thedevice not having to be removed from the vehicle to prevent wear whennot in use in the summer months.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will no doubt appear tothose experienced in the art and to those experienced with the problemsof safety of automotive vehicle travel over icy highways on the readingof this specification and its appended claims when taken in connectionwith an examination of the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of this invention mounted in a passenger carryingautomotive vehicle. Only the invention is shown in solid black lines.

FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of this invention mounted in a tractor trailer,the tractor trailer being shown in phantorn lines since it is not a partof the invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of this invention mounted in a school bus which isdrawn in phantom lines since it is not a part of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a laterally disposed view of that form of the detail of thisinvention as indicated by the arrowed line and the number 5 in FIG. 8.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a detail of this invention, takensubstantially along line 66 of FIG. 5, and viewed in the directionindicated by the arrows.

FIG. 7 is a side diagrammatic view of this invention as adapted to atruck or the like.

FIG. 8 is a side diagrammatic view of this invention as adapted to atruck and trailer.

In the several views of this invention and its adaptation to variousforms of automotive vehicles, like numbers indicate like parts of theinvention.

Directing ones attention first to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanyingdrawings it will be seen that this invention, when adapted to apassenger carrying vehicle, consists of tanks 10 and 11 that are mountedforward of the front wheels of the automobile 12. The just mentionedtanks are filled with sand that is released in front of the front wheelsof the vehicle when it is traveling on ice covered highways or the like.The top of each tank is provided with an electromagnet 13. The aforesaidelectromagnet 13 of each tank is connected together by an electric wireor the like 14 that is in turn connected by the electric wire 15 to theelectric wire 16 that leads to electric wire 17 which in turn isconnected to the two electromagnets 18, one of which is located in thetop of the two rear wheel sand tanks '19 and 20.

It should be noted at this time that all wires hereinafter referred toin this specification and claims are electricity carrying wires.

A wire 21 branches off from the aforesaid wire 15 to the brake pedalswitch 22, the brake pedal switch being adapted to activation by themovement of the brake pedal. From brake pedal switch 22 a wire leads tothe off and on switch 23 which is connected by wire 24 that is in turnconnected to a fuse box 25, fuse box 25 being of course connected to theelectric system of the vehicle. It is to be realized that the locationof the aforesaid parts of this invention are not necessarily in theexact places illustrated in the already mentioned FIGS. 1 and 2 of thedrawings.

Looking now at FIGS. 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings it will beseen by these two figures that this invention can be adapted to both atractor and trailer and a school bus as well as to the just describedpassenger vehicle (automobile) 12. The invention, as illustrated in thejust mentioned FIGS. 3 and 4 as well as in all of the other figures ofthe accompanying drawings other than FIGS. 5 and 6, is obviously in thesemidiagrammatic form.

In FIG. 3, the front wheel sand tanks are indicated by the referencenumber 26, while the rear wheel sand tanks of the tractor 27 areindicated by the reference number 28. The sand tanks of the rear wheelsof the trailer 29 are indicated by the reference number 30.

In FIG. 4, the front wheel sand tanks of the school bus 31 are indicatedby the reference number 32 while number 33 indicates the sand tanks forthe rear wheels of the same aforesaid school bus 31.

Looking now at FIGS. 5, 6, and 8, it will be seen in the drawings thatthere is herein illustrated that form of this novel invention when it isadapted to sand the highway in front of the rear wheels of a tractortrailer 34.

In this adaptation, the invention embodies a dual sand tank 35 that ismade dual by reason of its vertically disposed partition 36, as one cansee by looking at the already mentioned FIG. 8 of the drawings.

There is of course one sand tank 35 under each side of the trailerportion 37 of the tractor trailer 34, the aforesaid tanks being locatedforward of the dual wheels 38. The front and rear end of each sand tank35 is provided with a valve housing 39 that may or may not be removablefrom the often mentioned sand tank for reasons of maintenance or repair.Each valve housing 39 contains a vertically disposed valve 40 that hasan upwardly extending rod 41 which slidably terminates in itscontrolling electromagnet 42. The lower end of each valve slidably fitsinto the upper end of the sand outlet 43, as one can see by examinationof FIG. 6 of the drawings.

Examination of FIG. shows that each sand outlet 43 is so configurated asto permit the spreading of the sand in front of both of the aforesaiddual wheels 38. The front plate 44 of each aforesaid said outlet 43extends downward far enough below the actual sand outlet to prevent thesand from being blown forward away from the wheels when the vehicle isin forward motion.

Continuing to look at FIG. 8 of the accompanying drawings it will beseen that the tractor portion 45 of the aforesaid tractor trailer 34 isprovided with sand tanks 46 and 47 for sanding the highway in front ofthe front and rear wheels 48 and 49 of the aforesaid tractor portion 45of the vehicle. Electric wires 50, 51, 52, and 53 connect theelectromagnets of each valve to the distributing unit 54 which in turnis connected by wire 55 to the electric battery 56 of the vehicle. Anelectric brake pedal switch 57 controls the activation of the aforesaidelectromagnets of this invention.

It will no doubt be realized by those experienced in the art onexamination of FIG. 8 of the accompanying drawings that the purpose ofhaving a sand tank provided with a partition and two separate valves isto permit the operator of the vehicle to either release a small amountof sand on movement of his brake pedal if the icing is light on thehighway, or in an emergency, such as the discovery of heavy icing or asevere skid of the vehicle due to the emergency, of full application ofthe brakes, the forward valve of the aforesaid sand tank 35 can beopened and a much larger amount of sand can be released in front of thevehicles rear wheels. It may even be desirable to adapt a two wayelectric control switch in the electric system for this purpose.

FIG. 7 of the drawingsis a semi-diagrammatic side view of this inventionadapted to either a bus or an ordinary four wheel truck or the like.Since the parts of the invention illustrated in this Figure areidentical to those already mentioned in FIG. 8, the parts are indicatedby the same reference numbers are previously mentioned in the early partof this specification.

From the reading of the above description of this novel invention itwill be realized that there is herein presented a new and practicalsafety device for automotive vehicles likely to travel on ice coveredhighways and the like. The sand that is placed in the sand tanks of thisinvention should be thoroughly mixed with calcium chloride (CaCl inorder to keep it dry and functional. It will be obvious to thoseexperienced in the art that upon reading FIGS. 1, 2, 7, and 8 of theaccompanying drawings, that all one has to do in order to place sand infront of the wheels of the vehicle is to press on the aforesaid brakepedal switch 22, after being sure that the already mentioned off and onswitch 23 is in the on position. The activating of the brake pedalswitch 22 will cause the electromagnets that raise and lower the valvesin the sand tanks located in front of the wheels of the vehicle to openand thus let the sand pour down on the highway in front of the wheels.This sand will naturally give the wheels traction and thus prevent thevehicle from skidding.

It is to be fully realized that the mechanism of this novel inventioncan be connected in other ways to activate the valves of the same tanks.The valves of the tanks are preferably made of plastic, as well as isthe master sand supply tank and its connecting tubing if one is used, asit may be desirable to have an extra supply of sand in an auxiliarytank, the sand can be released to the above described sand tanks at willby the operator merely by the turning of one or more control valves.This just mentioned auxiliary sand tank and its supply tubing andcontrol valves is not shown in any of the views of the accompanyingdrawings for reasons of clarity.

Although it has not been previously mentioned nor illustrated in any ofthe numerous views of the accompanying drawings, it is quite possiblethat this invention can also be mounted in the fuselage of an airplane.The outlet of each sand tank is connected to a flexible tube thatterminates in the front of each wheel of the airplane. The invention mayalso be adapted to mounting on a motorcycle or the like with the outletof the sand tank terminating in front of the rear wheel of themotorcycle. A sand tank could also be mounted on a sidecar of amotorcycle in such a way as to release sand in front of the sidecarswheel, if it is so desired.

It is to be thoroughly understood that the valves of this novelinvention can, if it is so desired, be activated through a pressurizedor cable-operated link-up, also that the sand tanks can be made of anydesired material.

This invention of ours is subject to any and all changes in detaildesign and/or modifications in so long as the changes in detail designand/or modifications all fall within the scope and intent of theappended claims.

What we now claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for use with an automobile for improving the traction ofthe vehicle especially when traveling on ice covered highway or the likecomprising;

a tank associated with at least the rear wheels of the automobile;

means for mounting the tank adjacent a wheel and forward of the wheelwhen traveling in its normal forward direction of travel;

a partition separating said tank into first and second compartments eachof which contains an amount of sand;

21 first outlet defined in said first compartment and a second outletdefined in said second compartment;

and first and second valve means disposed respectively in said first andsecond outlets;

one of said outlets being disposed sequentially closer to its associatedwheel than the other of said outlets.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising means for separately actuatingsaid first and second valve means.

ward of the associated wheel.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said tank bottom is defined by apair of oppositely slanted walls one wall defining a part of eachcompartment.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the compartment closest to theassociated wheel is smaller than the other compartment.

1. An apparatus for use with an automobile for improving the traction ofthe vehicle especially when traveling on ice covered highway or the likecomprising; a tank associated with at least the rear wheels of theautomobile; means for mounting the tank adjacent a wheel and forward ofthe wheel when traveling in its normal forward direction of travel; apartition separating said tank into first and second compartments eachof which contains an amount of sand; a first outlet defined in saidfirst compartment and a second outlet defined in said secondcompartment; and first and second valve means disposed respectively insaid first and second outlets; one of said outlets being disposedsequentially closer to its associated wheel than the other of saidoutlets.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising means for separatelyactuating said first and second valve means.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2wherein one of said outlets is constructed to pass more sand over agiven time period than the other of said outlets.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 3 wherein the outlet that is closest to the associated wheeldispenses more sand when opened than the other outlet.
 5. The apparatusof claim 4 wherein each outlet is defined by a wall that dependsdownwardly at the forward end of the outlet to prevent sand from beingblown forward of the associated wheel.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5wherein said tank bottom is defined by a pair of oppositely slantedwalls one wall defining a part of each compartment.
 7. The apparatus ofclaim 6 wherein the compartment closest to the associated wheel issmaller than the other compartment.